Steer Wrestling

A steer is placed in a chute beside the cowboy who is aboard a horse in another chute, generally they use a horse of their own, unlike in some rodeo events where livestock involved is chosen by draw. There is a line, a barrier of tape type stuff that goes across the front of both chutes and must be broken by the steer first, not the cowboy's horse.

The steer is prodded out of the chute and it goes running like mad, the cowboy in pursuit. He runs his horse up along side it (another horsemen makes sure the steer runs fairly straight by blocking the other side), and then he jumps off and grabs the steers horns. He has to wrap his arm around and grab the steer's nose, then wrestle it down to the ground as fast as possible. It's more of a quick flip then a wrestle, but either way, the desired outcome is to get the steer laying fairly flat against the ground in a very short period of time (4.5 seconds is average time).

It isn't the most dangerous rodeo event, but it isn't very safe either. There is always the potential for fairly serious injury (dislocated shoulders, jabbed with horns). I always feel sorry for the steer because of the way they wrench on the neck like that.. I just don't think that an animal would be enjoyed being yanked around by the head.